Patient is the Night
by Evangeline Carter
Summary: Keep your head down, get good grades, make your parents proud – A mantra that Olive Oberg strives to follow every day, sounds simple enough…but then again, who wants a simple life? RLxOC
1. A Kind Of Magic

_Hi guys! I was struck with some sudden inspiration and had to write it down! let me know what you think :)_

 _Evangeline xx_

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"Olive darling, you haven't touched your tea, Is something bothering you?"

Her mother looked at her with a thin eyebrow raised in false concern. Her father chose to look down at his tea as if the liquid held the answers to life's greatest questions…Suspicious.

The circular oak table sat just as it usually did, its worn varnish reflecting the light in a rather dull way...  
The lavender scent of the biscuits her mother had baked wafted through the small dining room, invading her senses with their sweet floral smell; A very particular scent she had smelt on many occasions, no, not the biscuits.  
Letting a small smile grace her lips, Olive looked over at her mother and father inquisitively, the saccharine smiles on their faces did little to quell her unease.  
The usual red table cloth sat as it always did, nothing remarkable about it.  
The chandelier? No, too obvious.  
Running her fingers over the rim of her teacup, she kept on a face of stony indifference as she lifted it toward her freckled nose, hibiscus and rooibos, their usual Saturday favourite.

No steam, she noted. Very curious.

Could it be?...

Taking her wand out of her pocket, she tapped it to the base of the blue teacup, looking up at her parents inquisitively. The gold flowers decorating the porcelain sprung to action, they writhed and crawled around the cup as if alive. With the release of a dazzling white light, the handle extended and wormed around, fading from gold to a faint yellow, finally settling on pink.

Bingo.

"Very clever mother" She said, sincerely smiling up at her mother, yes, she'd love to have a nice breakfast for once, one where her parents weren't testing her in their unusual ways, but everyone had their idiosyncrasies…right?

A small frightened mouse appeared on the table with a high-pitched squeal, scampering off as quickly as it had appeared.

"Oh Lysandra! She's done it again, how did you pick it this time Olive? Really, I must know!" Her father finally bellowed as he stood up and gestured wildly with his long arms, his silver beard swayed in effort, moving almost in a hypnotic manner, like the pendulum of clock.

"There was no steam" She said simply, allowing her father to relish their last breakfast together before the new term, the compliments were nice, she wouldn't deny that – A bit of an ego boost would serve her well.

Now convinced that her biscuits were not in fact tainted with a rare Norwegian toxin that would leave her immobilized for seventeen hours (Third year) and that the table cloth was not actually charmed to try and envelop her like a snap dragon when touched (Christmas holidays) she could finally enjoy her last breakfast before the school year. Taking a bite of a crisp biscuit, she enjoyed the strange flavour as she closed her eyes in pleasure.

"Wonderful! That ought to help her loosen up!"

Freezing almost comically with the biscuit halfway to her mouth she stared at her mother. Oh no. No. No. No. This could not be happening. On her first day, really?

"Mum I…"  
"No time for that dear! Hold onto daddy – we wouldn't want you to miss the train now, would we!"

She was sandwiched her between her parents before she could even process what was happening. Her hands felt clammy and her face hot, was she dying?

Her bags came whizzing down from her bedroom, managing to dislodge loose paper from every nearby surface as they came (Filbert meowed in displeasure, he was less than thrilled by the abrupt transportation).

She felt like she was toothpaste being squeezed through a tube, or perhaps like she was dough being stretched out beneath a rolling pin. Nevertheless, one second she had been fussing over her mother's apparent spiked biscuits and the next she was staring at a bright red train. Oddly dressed people bustled about and chatted animatedly to each other, there was also a horde of nervous first years clutching to their parent's arms.

"Mother about the biscuit…"

"Oh! Olive dear look at that young man, quite handsome, isn't he Kirk?"

The small woman grabbed onto her husband's hand, pointing very obviously at a tall brunette boy. Her husband pulled out his orange spectacles, perching them on his long nose as he leaned in closer, causing the boy to burn bright red under their conspicuous observation. He looked like a tomato.

"But pumpkin, as Dorian Hethersforth pointed out in his book _Pride without Temptation_ , beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I, for example, think you are the most beautiful woman alive, but let's think of a man who has a strange attraction to Hippogriffs, you are bipedal and smooth skinned where a Hippogriff is quadrupedal and covered in feathers…Do you think he'd find you attractive dear?"

The woman jumped in excitement, kissing her husband's cheek.

"Kirk you make an excellent point! Olive, you've been rather quiet, what do you think my little possum?"

"I…" people were always staring. If her Father's eccentric speech patterns and gesticulations weren't enough to draw a crowd, his strange purple fur coat certainly was. Not to mention her mother's nest of black hair, if she didn't know better she'd say a family of Jobberknoll's had taken up residence in there, the feathers she'd stuck in it for decoration certainly only fuelled that postulation.

"You've neglected to address inner beauty, regardless of someone's strange sexual preference for Hippogriffs a seemingly beautiful person can be made ugly by the personality contained within" She concluded offhandedly, standing on her tippy toes to try and spot her friends, maybe this year she'd make it onto the train without another ordeal?

"Marvellous! I see someone's read their Christmas presents over the holidays! Possum, you make me so proud sometimes."  
Kirk ran a hand over his long beard, smiling down at the two women as Lysandra patted Olive's head in pride.

"She's really grown up over the holidays! Look at her chest! She certainly didn't get those from me!" Lysandra remarked conversationally.

"Or from me!" Her father butted in.

Merlin.  
She truly did love her parents but sometimes they were just too much.

"Yes, well..." What was she even meant to say to that? It reminded her of the time she'd finally gotten her period, her mother had thrown her a bloody full moon party (No pun intended) and invited all the aunts and uncles.

"Have we embarrassed you Olive? No need, for the female form is of immaculate design and the biochemistry contained within is even more amazing!" She'd been waiting since second year to overtake her mother in height, all of her friends had shot up like shoots from the soil after a rainstorm… she hadn't been so fortunate; She was still a stupid seed waiting in the soil for her day of glory to arrive – though considering she was in her sixth year she doubted she'd ever get her day in the sun. At least she could squeeze into tight spaces – an ability that had saved her from detention more times than she could count.

"'ello Kirk and Lysandra, I agree Olive is looking positively radiant, and I can't keep me eyes off her chest" She jumped as she felt the familiar hand of her best friend grab her shoulder. Ever the shit stirrer it seemed.

"Thank you Beatrice" Her parents smiled warmly at the girl as she smiled teasingly at Olive. Cauldron stirrer.  
"See Olive" Her mother started, smoothing down Olive's long black hair "my little girl has grown up into a beautiful young woman!"

Not a moment later her parents had trailed off, debating loudly, pointing out anything that took their interest, but mostly, drawing the attention of everyone both near and far.

"We've got to get on board Mr and Mrs Oberg but it's been so nice to see you again, I'd love for us to go through Olive's old pictures again, t'was me favourite dinner party yet."  
Olive frowned at her friend, bloody Beatrice. Sighing, she turned to her parents looking them in the eye seriously.

"I'll write you, I promise. Please make sure you don't burn off your hair again mum? Dad, make sure she's careful. Mum, make sure Dad doesn't take of whiff of your potion fumes, Mr Jefferson won't be happy if he finds him in the Greenhouse again...Just...look out for each other. Ok?"

Her mother laughed her off, running her hands along the soft fur of her puffy coat.

"Bye daddy!" She said finally, hoping to run off, she looked at her father who had been gazing into the distance, he looked confusedly between the girls before registering what Olive had said, his signature grin returning.

"Humph…oh! I thought that was you Lysandra! My mistake"

"Why would she be calling you dadd…never mind" She didn't want to know.

Her mother pinched Beatrice's cheeks and flattened Olive's coat, fussing over the young girls and ignoring Olive's previous line of questioning.

"Beatrice she's such a worry wart, make sure our little possum has a good year, I remember when I was in my fifth year; we got caught making love in the great hall in our third week! We were testing the hypothesis that large wooden tables are conducive to improved blood flow to the male genital region! There were some confounding variables so we never did get our answer, but the point of the story is that it was a whole lot of fun!" Her father leant down as her mother was saying this, pecking her softly on the cheek and nibbling her ear.

For the love of all that is magical! if only the floor would open and swallow her whole, the young boy and his family who were standing next to them looked utterly mortified, the blonde woman shot her mother a nasty glare and covered the boy's ears. Merlin.

"Love you Mum, Dad. Bye!" She shouted as she pulled her heavy trunk behind her, her cat, Filbert, was glaring at her dangerously, a warning to her currently unscathed arms – 'She who dares to confine the mighty Filbert will pay dearly'. She'd make sure she gave him some extra treats when they arrived, maybe she'd be lucky and only cop a few scratches.

Beatrice let out a shriek as the much smaller girl yanked her by the arm toward the Hogwarts express, enough damage had been done already.

"I was only joking about the biscuit possum!" She barely heard her mother through the crowd, but blimey! thank goodness for that.

"Merlin Oli, your dad's coat was nice today, think he'd let me borrow it for the feast?"

"Oh quiet you Witch or I'll put a permanent sticking charm inside of it and doom you to an eternity of looking like a purple profiterole. Sound like fun?" She didn't look back as she addressed her friend, pulling her through the corridor, heading for the back of the train.

"I doubt it Olive, seems too vanilla for you; you'd probably cook up some three-year scheme that leaves me with no teeth and an elephant trunk and then laugh about it. It's not fun when you're missing the spontaneity, gotta live in the moment, you know, all that crap"

Olive glared at her taller friend, with parents like hers she'd made sure she taught herself discipline at a young age.

"I…" She started, trying to defend herself.

"Your humour is terrible, really"

Well retrospectively the teeth thing did sound like something she'd do, she was reading a muggle book on the importance of teeth health just the other week, it would be hilarious to see her best friend smiling gummily like an invalid.

"I…Ok that does sound like something I'd do."

She watched as Beatrice took the lead, heading down the hall to their usual compartment. Beatrice was a lanky thing with small, upturned eyes shaped like almonds. The unusual smattering of freckles across her tanned skin and her white blonde hair made her a sight to behold.

After an unfortunate run in with Beatrice's ex-boyfriend, they finally settled into the compartment. Olive pulled her knees up to her chest, tucking her loose hair behind her ears. She pulled out the book her dad had given to her for the train ride; _Comparative Anatomy of the Nightshade Family –_ it sounded decently interesting, she had been wanting to research Belladonna in more detail this year anyway, what better time to start than now.

"Olive!"

Could she not just settle down and enjoy her book? Merlin… Olive looked up, ready to reprimand her bossy friend, but as she followed Beatrice's line of sight she realized her mistake. Oh. Her friend was pointing a thin finger with her eyes wide at the badge Olive held curled-up in her fist. She had forgotten about that. The bewilderment on her friends face was almost laughable. Almost. Time for damage control, minimise collateral damage and then change the topic as soon as socially acceptable. Good topics (From past experience) included how dazzling Beatrice's eyes looked that day, how silky her hair was, she'd usually follow that one up with a 'what shampoo do you use, I must get my hands on it!' and then finally, her personal favourite, why was it you broke up with William again? (The rant that transpired from the latter was rather annoying, but ultimately it paid off, life was about making sacrifices after all).

"Oh…I made prefect!" She said hastily, Beatrice was a right pain when she got into one of her moods.

"You absolute ninny, you didn't think to owl me? Dumbledore is off his rocker if her thinks you'd make a good prefect I mean your grades are good but you didn't even know we had a curfew until third year, how you didn't get caught is beyond me." The disbelief was still evident on Beatrice's broad face.

She knew Beatrice would respond this way, that's exactly why she hadn't told her in the first place, not that it was an intentional decision to withhold the information…though if she had remembered she was sure she'd have opted out of it.

"I…Well it's not my fault the teachers are always droning on at the feast, and why would it make sense to keep us in our dorms? Just the other night me and mum were looking for Tettlebugs at four in the morning, you can't even find them in the day!"

"Why am I friends with you again? Ugh, you and your bloody bugs! and what type of person calls their child Olive? Why not something tastier like…I dunno…cauldron cakes"

"Cauldron cakes…Sounds like a stripper's name, mum probably would go for that, expressionism, the human form and whatnot."

She hopped up onto her feet as she said this turning towards the door so her friend could no longer see her, in the deepest voice she could muster she started:

"And now gentlemen welcome to the stage, Cauldron cakes"

Beatrice started humming some strange muggle song as Olive turned slowly, pretending to put on a show.

"Well…hello there Olive, mind if I come and have a watch then?" Sirius said appreciatively as his eyes roamed her body.

Olive's green eyes widened as she turned toward the compartment door. She hadn't even heard it open.

"Or should I say…."

Merlin, please don't say it.

Please don't say it.

"Cauldron Cakes" James Potter said through laughter.

The Marauders. They had a habit of catching her at the worst possible times, she knew their names, and they knew hers but that was the extent of their relationship, she tended to seize up around new people.

"I…I was…um" She slammed herself in the seat next to Beatrice, refusing to meet their eyes.

"Bea help me" She whispered desperately from behind her curtain of black hair.

Beatrice rolled her eyes, her friend was positively mental.

"Laugh it up fellas, if you embarrass her anymore I think she'll shrivel up and disappear."

James was clenching his side, grabbing Sirius on the shoulder with his free hand, almost in tears. Beatrice rolled her eyes and surveyed the boys. Three. It was a rare occasion to see their group incomplete. She furrowed her eyebrows, drawing them together.

"Where's Remus?" She said curiously.

"Prefect meeting" Peter said simply from behind his friends.

"…Say Olive, what were you telling me the other minute?"

"Shit!" Olive jumped up in record time, feeling the blood rush to her head. Balls. Bollocks. Bummer.  
She made to run out the door but there were two problems with this: firstly, there were three boys almost twice her size blocking the way and secondly, the compartment door was only half open. In her haste, she managed to knock her head hard enough to send her flying to the ground.

"Oh Olive, really?"

"Shit Oberg, are you ok?"

"I have to run! Prefect meeting!"

She was out of breath by the time she made it to the prefect's compartment, short legs and all.  
Thankfully, they hadn't started. She was just about to slip in next to her fellow Ravenclaw prefect when she heard someone call out to her.

"Olive!" Lily Evans waved at her with a broad smile, oh! perhaps this prefect thing wouldn't be so bad, Lily and her got along very well.

"Hi Lily, it's good to see you."

"I meant to write you in the holidays, you'll never believe what James did this time, he can't even leave me alone when I'm on holidays? It was the opposite of relaxing having that git send his owl every day!" And there it was, before the term had even started Lily was complaining about James, to be quite honest Olive thought they'd make a cute couple, yin and yang as her mother put it – something from a muggle book supposedly.

"He means well"

"That bullying, idiot Neanderthal means well? I doubt it. I'd sooner kiss house elf than I'd kiss him, I imagine the house elf would be more pleasant as well" her eyebrows were furrowed deeply as if the mere thought of James was enough to bring on a headache.

"Never mind that." Lily said, finally calming down, it seemed like she'd waited all holidays to regale Olive with her stories, though it was a rare occasion that Lily didn't have something James related to complain about so she couldn't be sure.

"Did you brew anything interesting in the holidays? Lily finished, a dazzling smile of her pretty face.

Yes, but nothing she could offhandedly mention to Lily, her mothers work was rather odd and some of the ingredients she used were...not 'strictly' legal. In the holidays that had just passed her mother had almost blown up the house with one of her wacky creations.

"Well...my mother picked up this muggle television thing, we thought we'd look inside of it. Electronics are quite marvellous. My father got a nasty shock!"

"A shock? Oh my…was he ok?" Lily's face looked horrified, she didn't know why - a simple healing spell and he was as good as new!

"Remus! Over here." Lily called out suddenly.

The tall boy whipped his head around as he entered the compartment and the thin line of his lips curved up into a smile as he registered Lily, he was yet to see Olive as she had shrunk back into her chair, hiding behind Lily's shoulder.

"Lily, good to see you" He smiled softly as he sat down next to her. "I hope James hasn't been causing you too much grief" She always had thought he had a nice voice, very low and gravelly, attractive in a manly way.

"You know how he is" She sighed, rolling her eyes as she saw Olive hiding behind her shoulder.

"Remus have you met Olive? She's the prefect for Ravenclaw this year with Jonathon"

"Yes, we've met…Olive?" Remus looked confused as he said this, looking around for her, closing her eyes briefly, Olive popped forward with a small smile.

"Hi!" she said squeakily as she gazed up at the tall boy. They shared a few classes together and she'd always found him to be the most agreeable of the gang of miscreants known as the Marauders, but she found it rather daunting talking to him, he was a giant and she…she definitely wasn't. She noted he looked downcast at her obvious avoidance, letting his long hair fall forward to cover the angry scars that ran across his handsome face.

"Honestly Olive, you talk off my ear one minute and the second anyone else shows up you're as quiet as a mouse. She was just telling me about how she deconstructed a television in the holidays"

He laughed heartily at that.

"My mum is a muggle so we have a television, you should've seen James and Sirius when they first saw it."

He smiled at her. Oh Merlin…he smiled at her! What was she meant to do? Smile back? Laugh? Who knew. Life was full on uncertainties.

"Honestly Olive, have you got lockjaw?" Lily rolled her eyes, she'd been witness to her escapades far too many times.

"Oh…right…Sorry Remus. Did you have a nice holiday? You look like you've um…"She bit her lip as she scanned her eyes over his body…"Grown?"

"You know how boys are, I'll probably be even taller by the end of the year" Remus lowered his head uncomfortably, Olive could feel his eyes on her, probably noting how small she was in comparison.

Lily slapped her hand into her forehead at that comment.

"You are the biggest idiot I know Olive, that's honestly all you can come up with?"

"I…Oh! The meeting is starting; we better focus on that, no need to tear into poor little Olive…no need at all!" She widened her green eyes and batted her eyelids at Lily as she said this. Lily knew better than anyone that she was a bit socially inept, when they'd first met she hadn't looked Lily in the eye for at least a week!

The head boy rambled on about arrangements and whatnot, she'd stopped paying attention the minute he opened his mouth.

She couldn't wait it to be over, maybe she'd find some Grilweddle's near the lavatories again?


	2. Hang On in There

_Thankyou to meow333333 and TrueHomiePiP for the reviews - you made my week! :) and also a big thanks to anyone that favourited or followed - I hope you enjoy this chapter._  
 _Evangeline xx_

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"Are you going to eat something or are you going to read all bloody day, maybe I'll start calling you bag of bones instead?"

"Huh?" She barely heard Beatrice, she wouldn't have even looked up if not for the large sausage being pointed at her face.

Beatrice furrowed her brows, looking accusingly at the book on Olive's lap. Oh. Well, she liked to read, what more could she say? Between homework and lessons, she couldn't do it anywhere near as much as she'd like.

"Oh…Sorry Bea, you know how I get when I'm caught up in a good book"

" _What old Matron Duffard kept in her cupboard…_ " Beatrice read slowly off the cover, before looking at Olive with a quirked eyebrow.

"You don't want to be a Healer! you can't even look at blood without crying you ninny"

"Well…it's interesting to know anyhow. Besides, I would love to be a healer it's just the-" What was it exactly? the smell of bile that made her feel sick herself? The thought of watching patients die under her care, despite treating them to the best of her ability? The way she felt faint whenever she saw blood – ah yes, she definitely didn't want to be a healer.

"…Yeah…the blood thing"

"Go on have some toast, or an egg. For the love of Morgana Olive, I do this every year" Beatrice huffed as she buttered a slice of toast, covering it with a heaped scoop of scrambled eggs before dumping it on Olive's plate.

Olive had just started a chapter on Murtlap Essence, maybe she'd try making some of her own in the holidays – perhaps her mother could help her?

Suddenly, she felt the book disappear from her fingers. Shell shocked, Olive stared into the recently vacated space before she finally came to her senses and met the evil gaze of Beatrice, who was dangling her book in the air, just out of reach. Why would her friend try and deprive her of the gift of information? She'd just gotten to the good bit as well!

"Please Bea, just let me finish the chap- "

"Eat up or I'll eat _it_ " Merlin. She knew Beatrice wasn't one to be trifled with.

"What...you'll eat t..the book? But it's a library book, and I'm not hungry, just give it here…"

Beatrice looked down at her threateningly, opening the book to a random page and widening her mouth as if to warn Olive of what would come next.

"Ok! I yield." She took a small sip of pumpkin juice, mostly to appease Beatrice. "For now…" she whispered under her breath.

Obviously not being as quiet as she presumed, Olive glanced up in time to see Beatrice bite down on the corner of a page roughly, staring right into Olive's eyes with a quirked brow. Scanning over the page she realized it was about the use of Horklumps in the production of Wiggenweld Potion, Oh Goodness! Not the page on Horklumps! She could feel her breaths come quicker and her eyes widen in fear!

"Ok! Ok!" Olive hesitantly look a large bite of toast, smiling fakely as her cheeks stretched out like a chipmunk's.

"Yummy!" It was a lie. She hated toast and eggs.

Beatrice dislodged the book from her mouth, replacing it not a moment later with a sausage, taking a large greasy bite of victory.

Floppy, yellow and unappetising; did Beatrice expect her to eat these? She'd rather just finish a glass of Pumpkin juice and be done with it. Pumpkin for instance, had a number of useful medicinal properties – she would name them but her book had been savagely stolen from her, like a small child from its mother by invading barbarians. That's what Beatrice was, a barbarian.

She narrowed her eyes at Beatrice with renewed vigour, taking another large bite of her toast.

"Looking beautiful Olive, I'm sure all the boys will be fighting over you"

"Ah!" Olive jumped in surprise, her fork clanging against the cement floor, the eggs held in its tines meeting an untimely demise – Take that Beatrice!

"You scared me Lily!" She said as she looked up at her red headed friend. Lily looked down at her playfully before sliding into the free seat next to her.

Olive had been about to continue when she was distracted by the whiny voices of Wendella Hawkins and her buck toothed best friend which cut through the air like the screams of a banshee. They were nice she supposed, though the rest of the house seemed to disagree, labelling them as insufferable twats with a penchant for sticking their noses where they didn't belong, namely, into everyone else's business. They were also known for letting boys stick other things, that were not their noses, into places that were only colloquially known as 'their business'…

"I just wish he'd notice me! I cut my hair and I've been washing my face every day, barely a pimple in sight!" Wendella cried out, stroking her long blonde hair.

"For a Ravenclaw he is an absolute dunderhead, you are a beautiful independent woman Wendella, don't let any man tell you otherwise, especially not Clifford" The buck toothed girl laid a hand on Wendella's shoulder, looking her in the eye as if the words she spoke were an undeniable truth of the universe.

Beatrice rolled her eyes.

"Can you get a load of them?" she said as a piece of half eaten sausage flung from her mouth in Olive's general direction, her bites growing more aggressive as her ears were assaulted by the girls across from them.

"He didn't owl me once! I knew I shouldn't have eaten so many cream puffs in the holidays I…"

Beatrice shot up from her seat, slamming her hands on the table so hard that the cutlery jumped almost an inch into the air before crashing back on to the table with a loud clang. The two girls finally looked over at Beatrice, noting her flaring nostrils and rigid stance – only fools got on the wrong side of Beatrice Renshaw.

"I'm not a man so I'll tell it to you straight, I'm trying to eat my sausages in peace - Wendella you wouldn't be half bad if you stopped wearing the stupid headband – what's that meant to be? A bow or some grotesque tribute to a woman's genitalia – it actually looks a bit like a dead rat, you should probably think about taking it off"

Wendella and her friend looked up at Beatrice, Wendella's mouth opened, then shut, and then opened again – She looked like a fish…or like she was trying to catch flies. Comical, really.

Beatrice didn't seem to realize she was being rude, or what she had done to warrant such a glare from the two girls, she looked almost confused as she saw their expressions.

"No, no, don't thank me – 'twas my pleasure, now let me eat in peace." There was no doubt her friend could be abrasive.

"Beatrice, you really must watch that temper of yours, Olive and I are both prefects, the last thing we want to do is punish you" Lily shot Beatrice one of her signature glares, reprimanding her in an angry whisper before smiling kindly at Wendella. "I think your headband looks lovely Wendella, Clifford would be an idiot not to notice you."

"Well…I was just leaving anyway" Wendella hastily collected her things before running off, without so much as a glance back to Olive or her cohort. Her uneaten plate of food and the odd way she'd smiled at her friend made it evident that her words were less than honest.

Poor Wendella, she truly did look prettier today, she'd shot up in the holidays and lost some baby fat from her face. Yes, she did have quite the reputation and yes, she was a bit of a snake when she wanted to be, but Beatrice could be such a cow some mornings. Olive watched as Wendella walked toward the exit, pulling off her pink headband is resignation. Waiting for just the right moment, Olive took out her wand, whispering an incantation under her breath. With a small flick of her wrist, Wendella tripped and oh…what were the chances? Olive thought sarcastically, Colour her surprised!…Clifford just happened to be there to catch her. Clifford smiled down at the girl, saying something that made Wendella smile brilliantly, they were frozen like that, Clifford staring into her eyes longingly and Wendella blushing a deep crimson. Olive smiled at her handy work, reclaiming her book from Beatrice and opening it on her lap to plough through a few more pages before lessons. She was oblivious to the two girls staring at her, Beatrice rolled her eyes as she bit into yet another sausage and Lily smiled down at her approvingly.

Lily, gracefully seated in the space next to Olive, waited for her friend to look up at her. Of course, that was too much to ask, Olive had already entered her own world. Her long black curtain of hair shielded her from prying eyes and her book was so close to her face that Lily was sure her freckled nose was touching it. That's probably why so many people failed to notice her, Lily herself wouldn't have befriended the girl if not for their shared Arithmancy classes. Lily loudly cleared her throat, thinking it would be enough to capture Olive's attention. She was wrong, Olive remained as she had a minute earlier, none the wiser to the events transpiring around her; Dumbledore could've ridden into the hall on a Norwegian Ridgeback wearing a lacy pink dress and her head would have remained buried in her book.

"Are you ready for Arithmancy?" Lily tried again, Beatrice wore a shit eating grin as she devoured a bowl of porridge.

In truth, Olive had heard Lily trying to capture her attention but she was determined to power through this chapter, she'd already lost enough time to Beatrice's escapades.

"You're doing Arithmancy this year?" Olive was honestly surprised, almost a whole week of school had past and she was sure she hadn't seen Lily in Arithmancy…

"I sat two seats away from you! I told you I'd meet you so we could go together. Last lesson It was just Remus and I and you were sitting next to that god-awful girl with the hair thing" Well…Olive did vaguely remember Lily saying something along those lines, but her attention had been elsewhere.

"What a surprise! Olive not listening? Quick, slap me, pour water on me, do anything; I must be dreaming!" Beatrice widened her eyes in fake surprise, pretending to tip a glass of water over her head.

"Terry is a very nice girl" Olive replied, finding her hands much more interesting than they ought to be.

"She cut off a four-inch lock of your hair and told you that your scent reminded her of the parents she's never had! How can she be considered a nice girl?"

Ok, fine. She should have noticed Lily and avoided a run in with the infamous Terry, but she'd been rather busy all week with her prefect duties and fitting in her readings, who wouldn't get a bit distracted?

"Is it nice having a fingers Beatrice? I can always change that, imagine trying to play quidditch with nothing but spaghetti for hands"

Olive could see Lily roll her eyes in her peripheral vision, Lily had never been fond of their bickering, she said they were like two old ladies who had gone off their rockers (whatever that meant).

Lily stood abruptly, nodding her head toward the Gryffindor table. "Now hurry Olive or we'll be late, I told Remus I'd come get you and we'd be off…unless you'd rather sit with Terry?"

"Uh...You and I? are going to…um…go over there to all those people?"

"Mayor Olive of Oberg-ville, you must bid farewell to your loyal subjects – whatever will they do without their leader to impart bug related wisdom on them?" Beatrice said as she pulled on a strand of Olive's hair playfully.

Lily roughly pulled Olive behind her in the direction of the Gryffindor table. A bright light was already swimming in her vison, it felt warm, like home. She swore she could smell the familiar scent of her mother's favourite tea and old books, the type her father read to her when she was small. It was almost as if the light was calling to her, saying "It's your time Olive, come to me sweet child and I shall embrace you for eternity".

"Olive?"

She dreamily looked to her right., Craning her neck as she looked up into the worried green eyes of Lily Evans.

"Are you ok? You look a bit pale?"

Oh, Right. She was still alive and about to meet a terrible fate, one much worse than death! she tried to ground her feet but Lily's grip on her arm was much too strong. She screwed her eyes shut as she felt them come to a stop, she quickly chanced a look with her left eye, only to meet the warm brown gaze of Remus Lupin.

Remus opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by Sirius, who threw an arm around his shoulders pulling him close.

"Did you know that Moony is half giant?" Sirius said, smiling at Lily and Olive widely and waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Lily huffed and looked over to the boys, taking care not to glance too far to her right, a certain black haired bespectacled boy was sitting there looking like her presence was the best gift he'd ever been given.

"And your half ghoul, aren't you Sirius? All the signs are there; dim-witted, ugly as a hag, speaks only in incomprehensible groaning noises…" Remus spoke, not even looking at Sirius. Sirius laughed, tightening his grip around Remus' shoulders before reaching forward to mess up his friend's sandy blonde hair, much to his annoyance.

"Groaning noises" James leant forwards, accosting Lily with his large frame, avoiding him now would be like avoiding oxygen – though she'd probably be happier with the fate she'd meet if she tried the latter, after all, James certainly wouldn't be able to annoy her in death. "Well, if you'd decided to take me up on my offer for this weekend Sirius wouldn't be the only one making them – what do you say my lovely Lily flower?

"The only groaning noises will come from you when I kick you hard enough to make sure Potter spawn is impossible, Merlin knows we don't need more people like you in the world" Lily's cheeks were almost as red as her hair, to anyone else it would look like anger but to Olive, who had made sure to learn the nuances of her friend, it was definitely embarrassment.

"I'll remember those words; we'll laugh at them fondly when we're holding our own little bundle of joy" He leant back in his chair, crossing an arm over his chest and lazily picking up his juice with the other. Olive had slowly been inching behind Lily, until only her head poked out, she was clutching her leather-bound book to her chest with wide eyes.

"Right, Arithma-" Remus was cut off by Lily once more, she took a threatening step forward and pointed a thin finger right in James' face.

"As I was just saying Potter, the only bundle of joy you'll be holding is your own, right after I kick it so hard that yo-" Olive grabbed Lily's hand, squeezing it in what she hoped was a reassuring manner.

Little Peter Pettigrew sat quietly, eating a hearty serving of beans, his shoulders were slouched down and he was avoiding Lily's eyes as if a single look would be enough to send him to his grave. Sirius looked over at James who had just opened his mouth to supply another cocky retort, no doubt.

"Yes, well look at the hands on him! You know what they say about big hands?" He cut in grabbing Remus by the arm so his hands were in full view, winking at Olive as he did so.

"Big gloves?" James asked, taking the bait and feigning a look of confusion. Poor Peter sat across from the boys with the same look, though his was genuine, Olive thought she could almost see the cogs working in his head, albeit slowly and with much difficulty – like they hadn't been greased in a long while.

"Precisely!"

Goodness! Were they really referring to what she thought they were? Olive chanced a glance over at Remus, he merely yanked his arm back and rolled his eyes before biting his toast, her eyes moved of their own volition and before she knew it, she was assessing Sirius' previous claim…

Lily grabbed her roughly and forced her out of the comfort of her shadow. The floor suddenly had become rather interesting to Olive…

"Why the red cheeks Olive? Oh! You naughty little witch" Sirius' smile was wolfish as he nudged the two boys sitting on either side of him. Oh Gods! She hadn't meant to look, had he seen her? Had Remus seen her?

"Just ignore them Olive" Lily whispered reassuringly, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Remus" Lily finally said, smiling and nodding her head at him.

"Sorry about them" He said, a small smile gracing his face as he roughly elbowed Sirius in the ribs.

"Are you going to say hello?" Lily ground out, under her breath for only Olive to hear.

Oh no, but there were so many people…boys no less! And they were looking right at her. Think Olive! Think! "D…did you know that Jobberknoll's are the fastest species of…"

"No! no talking about animals, that barely constitutes a normal conversation."

"Uh…Right…" she looked over at Remus, his eyes were shifting from Lily to her, he'd been smiling only a minute earlier but now his mouth was set in a line and he had lifted a large hand to cover a substantial portion of his face – probably in an effort to hide it from her. Merlin, he still thought she feared him because of his scars? "Well…Gomas Barbadensis needs to be…"

"No! no plants either. Merlin Olive, it's really not that hard"

"…Hi!"

Sirius laughed again as he and James looked over at Remus. "She's so smitten with you she can barely get her words out! It happens to the best of them, it was only last night when Marlene here was struggling to get her words out, she was a bit out of brea-"

Marlene, who was sitting only a few seats across, flung her spoon at his head, smiling bitterly as it met its target, ricocheting off his forehead only to clatter to the ground a moment later.

James used the lull in conversation to conjure up a single rose, reaching out a lanky arm to offer it to Lily. "Reminds me of a lovely red headed lady when she's in my presence, I don't blame her, women often tell me that I'm rather dashing."

It was all too much for Olive, she often found too much human interaction left her drained and she was sure she'd had enough this morning to see her through until next Christmas. At least. "W…Would you look at the time! Time to go to class that is! W…well…better be on our way."

As Olive hurried off toward the entrance, quickly disappearing into a group of first years, Lily turned sharply, scowling at the boys with her chin lifted high and her hands on her hips. A pregnant silence hung in the air like the blade of a guillotine ready to strike; as her lips quirked to the side Sirius and James looked to each other, wide eyed and sweaty palmed.

Just as the boys had been sure they would receive a particularly brutal verbal lashing, Lily's narrowed green eyes drifted to James' like two shining emeralds. Without a word, she grabbed onto Remus' ratty looking sleeve and took off after Olive with strides so long that even Remus, with his abnormally long legs, found it difficult to keep up.


	3. Under Pressure

**A big thankyou to lilrilakkuma, booksareforescaping, TrueHomiePiP and the Guest; believe it or not, that's the most reviews I've ever received on a chapter…YAY! Also, thank you to the people that favourited and followed. For some reason this chapter took me ages to write…in the process of writing it I ended up writing about three chapters worth of future sections, so that's a good thing I guess! Enjoy! Xx**

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The lesson had been a disaster. Scratch that, it had been beyond a disaster, it'd been a cataclysmic event that would haunt her for the rest of her life. It was as if a higher being was determined to embarrass her beyond salvation. She hadn't even needed Peeves to make a fool of herself, she'd done it all on her own.

It all started when Lily pushed her into the desk, sandwiching her in the middle seat like a slice of deli meat. The plight of being a tall boy it seemed, was that the desks were much too small for your legs; this meant that Remus' trouser clad thigh had been forced against her bare one, for someone who turned the colour of strawberries when within 10 feet of the opposite gender this was quite a testing scenario. It was very same trouser clad thigh that later began bouncing up and down in agitation as Remus worked through his Arithmancy problems, the sensation served as tinder for the already blazing furnace of her cheeks and she'd wanted nothing more than to shrivel up like a prune.

To make matters worse, Olive could feel the burning gaze of Terry on the side of her head, she'd tried offering the girl a smile but Terry's scowl had only deepened, her beady brown eyes narrowing as they met Olive's. Unfortunately, the seating situation was only the beginning of her problems, it'd been the push that sent her carefully practiced routine toppling over like a line of dominoes.

With each and every blunder Lily's frustration grew exponentially. Remus, on the other hand, became disturbingly self-aware, his easy smiles and quick laughter morphed into shy glances and hunched shoulders until he was doubled over like a sack of potatoes; a very large sack of potatoes that shared her earlier sentiments of wanting to shrivel up like a prune. (Stone fruit related accidents appeared to disturbingly prevalent in the thoughts of the socially handicapped).

Olive had tried to escape as quickly as possible, only to be caught by Lily who dragged her all the way to the great hall by the collar of her robes. Even the scones on the table looked miserable, she'd usually have sat down and covered one generously with clotted cream and strawberry jam, but the whole world was tinted grey by her foul mood.

With her head resting glumly in one small hand and her other rested atop the book she'd started last night, Olive gazed into the distance, trying to ignore the annoyance radiating off the girl next to her.

"Beatrice, you need to sort out this friend of yours. I mean, really Olive?" Lily was seething, the fingers clenching the back of her robes a testament to that fact.

Olive winced as she thought back to Arithmancy, Remus was probably cursing his luck for being stuck next to her. The empty seat next to Terry had undoubtedly looked very tempting, at least she could hold a decent conversation- even if it was about how they'd be married with twelve children by the end of the year (though logistically impossible, Terry had never been one to let minute details get her down).

"Did she set her hair on fire trying to brew a new potion?" Beatrice absentmindedly chewed on a stick of celery, her mouth screwing to the side as she considered a problem on her page. When her blue eyes finally flickered up they rolled in annoyance at the sight of Lily, who'd already committed the cardinal sin of interrupting Beatrice at mealtimes more than any sane person ought to.

"No, but sh-"

"Did she break into the Hufflepuff dormitories and lock herself in the 6th year bathroom so no one could talk to her?"

Lily's face contorted into her signature scowl, not that Beatrice could see, she still hadn't given Lily the attention she craved. "…No, what I was trying to say wa-"

"Did she skip a day of classes because she thought she saw a Hawkeye beetle?" Beatrice let out a deep sigh, causing her loose blonde hair to fly up like a billow of smoke.

"Well…no, But sh-"

Beatrice finally paused for a moment, pondering the words Lily had just shared with her.

"Don't know what you're complaining about then, it sounds like congratulations are in order." Beatrice nodded down at Olive in approval, before returning to her writing.

At least one person wasn't pissed off with her today.

Lily's grip tightened on the table, her knuckles turning white from sheer force. "Beatrice, can I not get one word in without you interrupting?" She finally snapped, banging her other hand on the table.

Beatrice remained unperturbed, tilting her head to the side in thought "You tell me, you just got in about twelve"

Lily's lips pursed together as she brushed her hands down her skirt in an effort to contain her rage. "Two whole hours and you know how many words she said to him?"

It'd be nice if someone looked at her, this conversation was about her after all…It was like debating the uses of dragon blood in front of Dumbledore and ignoring him every time he tried to speak.

Beatrice suddenly slammed her book shut, smiling brightly at her work, replacing it with a large plate of sandwiches not a moment later.

"She's a bit of a prude, isn't she?" Beatrice spoke through a mouthful of sandwich, throwing a stray piece of lettuce in Olives direction.

"That's not a nice way to put it." Lily's eyes finally softened as she looked over at the dejected girl next to her, "She's full of great stories, she just needs to…you know, get them out without acting as if she's seen a ghost"

"Don't let the Baron hear you, no wonder he's shy" Olive butted in, frowning when she noticed the Baron wasn't in the hall. Admittedly, he was a tad frightening with his wide, staring eyes that were as black as the night…and the heavy silver chains that burdened his neck…and the blood-stained tunic he wore. Also, he'd murdered Helena – An act of desperation driven by his love for her, but that was…kind of romantic? Almost like Romeo and Juliet... except 'Juliet' hadn't really loved Romeo, and Romeo had been little more than a suitor driven crazy by his need to possess Juliet. Ok, it was nothing like Romeo and Juliet; But really, once you got to know him he wasn't so bad, just a man consumed by remorse! She'd be at a loss for words if she'd murdered the love of her life as well.

"I thought you told me your mum wanted you to have some fun this year?"

Yes, her mother had said that…but Olive knew their idea of fun were vastly different to hers, based on her own criteria she'd had a hoot so far; if it were any indication of how her year would go she'd have an absolute ball. If only she could convince Lily and Beatrice to feel the same way…

"I…I've had a lot of fun, I went Flitterby spotting last night, then I planted some bulbs out by Hagrid's shack…oh! I read a muggle book last week – it was the most fun I've had in a while"

"You were out last night? Bu…Actually, don't tell me, what I don't know can't hurt me" Lily closed her eyes, probably wondering how she'd become friends with such an oddball "Your aim for this year is to make a new friend, one that is a BOY" She finally said, nodding toward the Gryffindor table.

"I'm friends with Gavin! There, mission complete" She'd also spoken to her patrol partner on the train…she forgot his name though, she'd been too enthralled by his fingers to listen, they were the fattest she'd ever seen! It was as if he'd had an unfortunate accident with a meat grinder and stuck the nearest finger shaped items onto his hands as replacement with a 'huh…good enough, I hope no one notices' and then carried on with his day. Olive glanced over at the boy, who was telling a story, gesturing wildly with his hands…she knew the truth, He wasn't fooling anyone. Salami hands had nothing on her.

"He thinks your name is Emma and he spilt the whole jug of milk over your robes this morning…he didn't even say sorry" Beatrice said flatly, becoming increasingly annoyed at Lily's presence.

"I needed some milk anyway, I was the rude one for not saying thank you"

Lily groaned in defeat, standing to join her Gryffindor friends who were waving her over. Olive almost thought she'd escaped the clutches of the wicked witch when Lily turned one last time.

"Don't think I'll forget about this" Lily warned, pointing a pale finger in Olive's direction before hurrying away.

They sat in silence for a moment, Beatrice's smirk growing by the second, she watched Olive silently before she broke out into a full-fledged smile

…Five

…Four

…Three

…tw-

Olive exploded into a flurry of words.

"Oh Beatrice it was horrible, she forced me between the two of them! He was so close I thought I'd combust" Olive slapped a hand to her forehead, wincing as she spoke.

"…Go on" Beatrice continued to smile, when Olive was frustrated she was like a kettle waiting to explode.

"He asked if I had spare parchment and I told him the capital of Switzerland was Bern. I didn't even get it out right, I stuttered like a fool."

"I would try and make you feel better, but I respect you too much for that my dear little Olive"

Olive acted as if she hadn't even heard her friend, instead continuing her rant.

"He accidentally brushed his hand against my neck and I jumped so high I knocked ink all over my paper!"

Why was she such an idiot? Every encounter they'd had ended up with her doing something stupid, and he always ended up with that sad puppy look on his face! It didn't help that Beatrice snickered at her stories rather than offering advice.

"I see it, he's a bit creepy looking but I'd still go there. You remember that guy in Slytherin with the funny mole? He was an absolute deviant, I wasn't expecting much but he could do this thing with his tongue where he held me upside-down a-"

For the second time that day Olive turned a rather unfortunate shade of red. One that made her look like she'd smothered herself in oil and lay in the sun for a week. "B…Beatrice! You know that I…Um…Ah! Why do you do this to me!"

"Aw, am I embarrassing you? You're right though, he's a bit tall for me, don't know how the mechanics of that would work."

It was like someone had petrified her, the muscles of her face seized up like an unused engine and her eyes locked onto Beatrice's, she couldn't even blink. Beatrice knew exactly which buttons to press to make her flustered, some friend she was…

"Alright let's break it down: You're an absolute prude, Slughorn thinks you are mute, your hair is a mess half the time, you're kind of weird… OH! I have a good one, you know when you're nervous and you do that thing with your e-"

"D...do we really need to list all my short comings?" Ok, so she was a bit of a prude, but with a friend like Beatrice how could she not be? Beatrice's escapades were less than tame, it was no wonder she couldn't look half the Gryffindor boys in the eye.

"Right, my poor little muffin is getting upset, Boo-hoo" Beatrice's face contorted into a fake frown as she pretended to wipe tears away from her eyes.

"Oh! Guess who's looking at you right now" For the love of Merlin, was this another of Beatrice's cruel pranks? Would she look over just in time for Beatrice to slap whipped cream into her face?

"Uh…How many guesses do I get?" Act dumb. It wasn't exactly the best technique considering what house they were in.

Beatrice rolled her eyes stroking her imaginary beard. "Hmm, I think you'll only need one"

Olive hung her head low, building up the inner strength to look. Taking her chances, she glanced up quickly only to meet the intense gaze of Remus…and the other three marauders. Sirius smiled wickedly, elbowing James as they presumably cackled at her expense. As if she had stared into the sun, Olive's eyes flickered away almost instantly, she hung her head low as her hands rose to cover her burning cheeks.

"B…Beatrice! They were all looking…and now they've seen me looking!" Oh Merlin. Bury her alive, feed her to a pack of blood thirsty wolves! It would be nice if she could remain any other shade but red for a few minutes.

Thankfully, the rest of their day had gone without incident. They sat in their usual seats, which meant secluded corners and minimal human interaction, and strived to finish all their homework in class. Only a few of their dorm mates had managed to squeeze conversation out of them and Olive had been sure not to glance in the direction of the Gryffindor cohort, lest a scheming red head be looking her way.

Beatrice had snuck off for a while in Herbology, nothing Olive couldn't handle, though on appearance alone she couldn't say the same for the Slytherin boy Beatrice had returned with. His hair made him look like he'd been caught in gale force winds and Olive could've sworn that his neck was decorated with some garish marks that had been absent earlier….Never mind that, Beatrice's smile was like the Kneazle who got the cream, a nice change from the mood Lily had put her in.

Later that night a somewhat overweight orange cat sat atop a large leather bound book, his bushy tail flicked wildly as he observed his master. He wasn't happy. The rest of the dorm had retired long ago, meaning there was no more fun to be had; He couldn't steal Mandy's knickers and dump them in the boys' dormitories, nor could he ransack Louise's makeup supplies and send her into a fit of hysterics. Instead, two small feet covered in outlandishly fluffy socks hung off the edge of the bed, swinging in a manner which disturbed his fragile feline psyche. Padding forward, he tried rubbing his head affectionately into Olive's arm – was his human thick? Could he be more transparent? When that didn't work, and the itch on his belly intensified, he tried scaling her body like a tree, hoping she'd catch on to his desires…Honestly, he was a simple cat, he liked food, fresh air and the occasional, yet seemingly elusive, belly rub. Humans.

"Filbert, if you don't get your fat arse off my arm I won't pet you ever again!"

Olive winced as she saw Filbert narrow his golden eyes, a few treats ought to ensure she wasn't mysteriously smothered in her sleep tonight; She surveyed his face once more…better add a belly rub to sweeten the deal. Finally, she relaxed as the thrum of her usual silencing and privacy charms tickled her skin - no one would be able to open her curtains now, not unless they knew some seriously potent magic.

Not a moment later, a small house elf with eyes as wide as saucers appeared next to her on the bed.  
Perfect, Just on time.  
Its small form was covered by a floral tea towel, which wrapped around its spindly body like a toga. Smiling down at the creature, Olive's tense shoulders finally sagged.

"Miffy…you made it"

Olive and Miffy had been acquainted since first year. One of Olive's first expeditions had been of the investigative sort - 'leave no stone unturned' as her mother would say, and she'd done just that; she knew the castle like she'd built it herself. In the case of Miffy, a ticklish pear and Olive's rumbling stomach had made them fast friends.

"Of course, Miss Olive, Miffy would do anything to please her friend" The elf gazed up at Olive happily, her squeaky voice was grating, like someone trying to play violin for the first time, but Olive thought it was rather cute.

"Please tell me you've been keeping safe. Have you been careful like I asked?" Filbert's tail thumped the quilt more aggressively now, unhappy his master was giving a creature other than himself so much attention.

"Oooo Yes Miss! Miffy made sure of it" Her large eyes gleamed brilliantly in the soft candlelight.

"And what have you learned Miffy?" Olive asked softly, you had to be careful with house elves, one false step and they'd be banging their head on the coffee table.

"M…Mister Regulus and Mister Avery has had a meeting again, Miffy wanted to listen but she remembered what you said and stayed safe behind the pillar"

"Anyone else? Have they been in the forbidden section again?" She prodded.

"Miffy has seen one other, they has called him Mulciber, Miffy thinks" Her eyes widened sadly as she wrung her hands in her lap, looking guiltily to the floor "Miffy tried to look at the book they has taken b…but-"

Olive finally stood, pulling out a cardboard box from her drawer, It was filled to the brim with oat biscuits. "That's quite alright Miffy, you were only doing as I asked – keep going exactly as you are." Olive lowered herself so she could look Miffy in the eye, extending the box forward to her little helper "I know you don't like accepting things from me, but I spent a whole night making these…I'd be quite sad if you didn't take them"

"Oh! Miss Olive is too kind to Miffy! Too kind indeed." Miffy hesitated before stepping forward, bowing her head graciously and accepting the biscuits. "W…will Miss Olive come visit Miffy in the kitchens again?"

"Of course, Miffy"

In the blink of an eye Miffy had disappeared, leaving a smiling Olive in her wake. Crawling on all fours to the top of her bed, she eased herself into the covers. Filbert sat nearby, purring contentedly as his master finally cuddled him to her chest, stroking his ginger fur just the way he liked. She remained that way for a while, one hand stroking Filbert as the other settled on the silver locket clasped around her neck. As the silence wore on, her eyes became heavy until they were nothing more than slits staring blankly at the silky blue fabric overhead. Olive drifted into a dreamless sleep that night, with nothing but Filbert and her thoughts for company.


	4. The Invisible Man

Thank you to booksareforescaping, TrueHomiePiP and lilrilakkuma – I hope you enjoy this chapter! Cheers to anyone that favourited and followed, it is much appreciated and I love receiving feedback! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and New Year.  
Also, I hope it's obvious, but Corvo is a painting - Happy Reading!

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"Bah! Who dares to enter the lair of the famed Count Corvo de Montesquieu! I'll have your head for treason boy! Do you know who I am?"

"Corvo! Shhh! It's me" Olive rushed forward, pushing at the black hair that had settled over her eyes.

Corvo squinted, adjusting the gold spectacles atop his red nose as his flabby jowls shook in rage. "My guardsmen will have your head on a pike, and that'll be before I use your entrails as a skipping rope you good for nothing sw-"

He stopped for a moment, his eyes widening when he recognised her face. With a bright grin, he sat back on his chair, adjusting the ruffles of his doublet. "Well, If it isn't my favourite little Alchemist! come closer my dear, you know I struggle to see these days" He smiled, revealing a less than pristine set of coffee stained teeth.

Olive scurried toward the large picture frame that housed the grumpy old Count, still gnawing her lip in frustration as she thought back on her day.

"Just yesterday I went for tea with Madam Jaboulay and Sir Rickleby, I left my spectacles right there on the table! Yet here they are sitting on my nose, how is this so? You may ask-" He fiddled with his spectacles as he rose from the wooden chair he'd been painted on. Getting past him without hearing a story was like pulling teeth from a Nundu, though that was probably short-changing the Nundu.

She hoisted her bag up on her shoulder and hugged her thick textbook to her chest as he spoke.

"A little Goblin stole them! Would you believe it? from that horrid painting with the fairies – too much pink for my taste. Bah! the fool! I won them back in a game of wizard's chess and I ended up with this antique comb in the process, Do you like it?" Corvo held up an intricately designed comb with one hand and put the other on his large gut, his shoulders moving up and down as he let out a loud laugh from deep in his belly. "Which leads me to another point, did you kn-"

She couldn't blame the Count, if she were trapped in a painting for the all of eternity she'd be bored as well – though Olive didn't think she'd let herself get quite as batty, but she supposed it was annoying having hormonal teenagers profess their love in front of you daily. Once she'd even had to sit through a graphic description of 'some good for nothing blonde hooligan's' adventure in his corridor, which in itself wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't known that the 'buxom blonde' in question was in fact, her best friend.

Blushing, Olive looked back to Corvo whose blue eyes were sparkling with mirth as he finished his latest story. "…So I don't believe it was a real body, or my basement would have had quite the odour! But I never did see Sir Flemington again…" He stared wistfully into the distance as if finding a corpse in his basement was a particularly fond memory of his.

Olive looked up at him, wide eyed, "T-That's uh…" Brilliant? Wonderful? Charming? Really, she wasn't sure what the appropriate adjective would be…" Uh-"

"Good Merlin girl! What's happened to your hair? You look utterly frazzled!" He strode all the way to the front of his portrait, only now noticing her dishevelled appearance.

He couldn't have been more correct; she was 'utterly' frazzled.

As she'd headed for the Library after her final class, a group of Slytherins had followed not far behind. This was not an unusual occurrence, in fact, it was a routine of sort. Just as she left potions, Beatrice would be distracted by Bertram Aubrey, who was known for his sleek blonde hair and piercing blue eyes; plus, Beatrice had always been a sucker for bad boys, and Aubrey was as bad as they came (Not in the usual 'Devil may care' way, but in a 'Genocide sounds neat!' kind of way, Olive thought that made him a 'Homicidal Maniac' rather than a 'Bad Boy', but Beatrice begged to differ…).

Olive would bid her friend farewell, tucking her head down and scurrying toward the Library. With Beatrice gone Olive was somewhat of a soft target, she wasn't exactly known for being charismatic or for her duelling prowess, which meant Mulciber would be on her like a muggle detective, trailing her from some distance. She never could remember his real name, but she had a niggling feeling it started with an 'S', so she'd settled on 'Sherlock'. As she rounded the last corner toward her destination, Avery, whom she liked to think of as the Dr. Watson of their operation, would feign some type of collision; common lines from him included height related slander and comments about what a treacherous piece of swine she was; which had rattled her the first few times, but really, when she gazed up at him and imagined him with a handlebar moustache, cane and top hat, her feelings tended toward laughter rather than abject fear. Mulciber, ever the resourceful Slytherin, would search her bag whilst she was 'distracted' - for what, she was still unsure, unless the Slytherins thought her compendium of bugs was interesting and were keeping tabs on it…if that were the case she would happily arrange them a meet and greet with a nest of angry Hornets.

It was quite silly really, if it were her she'd have mixed things up a bit – variety is the spice of life, as her mother often reminded her. They were awfully predictable. Dull. That's why today, when she'd been knocked behind a pillar by an invisible entity, she was beyond confused, that is, until she saw a scuffed set of shoes hurrying away – she'd seen a lot of shoes in her life time, so this should've been an entirely unremarkable event – what was different about this particular set of shoes, was that their owner was nowhere to be seen. A disillusionment charm was out the window, that would've concealed their whole body, and so was knotweed – the side effects that came with invisibility were too great, especially since the person had merely pushed her out of the way, it seemed like too much effort for such a simple act. Invisibility cloak? Now that was a possibility…Needless to say, she'd missed her usual run in with Sherlock and Dr. Watson, unless they were the ones who'd pushed her?

"I'm actually not here to ask about Alchemy today Corvo, it's about my situation with the Slytherins…"

Corvo's eyes narrowed into slits as he looked down at his hand, a stub in place of his thumb – one of his favourite stories to tell which, unsurprisingly, featured a Slytherin antagonist. "Those good for nothing snakes in the grass! Bah! I've never known a good man to be from Slytherin, tell me girl, what has happened?"

"They switched it up today, well…at least I think they did" Olive tightened her robe around herself, feeling the frigid kiss of the night's air.

"Good Merlin, use your words! What makes you say that?"

She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts, "I was pushed over just before I was due to run in with Avery, and I thought I'd just tripped but... I could see feet hurrying away from me, I'm thinking an invisibility cloak? But who at Hogwarts would have the means to possess one? I know they can be bought, but I'm speaking 100% invisible…Demiguise feathers begin to fade within days of harvest and even then, the cloaks leave you transparent at best."

Corvo nodded his head in agreement, "Potent magic indeed…" He paced along the tiled floor of his office before looking out into the corridor to give Olive his full attention.

"I still d…don't know what they want from me, and if they have an invisibility cloak it means I'm never safe!" she looked around nervously.

"I do recall reading on the topic in my studies…Might I suggest the restricted section? All kinds of delights in there! You'll even find my book on human transfiguration! Oh-ho did I stir up some controversy with that one! You sh…"

Olive nodded at Corvo, his lips were moving, but she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to listen. She still had Miffy and the other elves looking out for her, and she knew Regulus, Avery, Mulciber and Aubrey were conspiring, but could there be more of them? She tuned in again, just in time to catch the tail end of his story.

"…So I said: My dear Lady Ophelia, you wound me with such accusations; why would I have stolen your necklace? Do I look like a crossdresser?" Corvo winked at her as he pulled a glistening strand of pearls from beneath his collar.

"Right…Thankyou Corvo"

Olive hesitated, looking behind her into the corridor. "I've spoken to blonde woman in that painting you like, she's agreed to have a chat." Corvo, despite his over-large stomach and greying hair, believed himself the be quite the catch, he had been after the pretty Baroness for as long as she could remember "I'm sure no one will know I've been here, let alone that there is a 'here'?" She said lowly.

"My word girl!" He slapped a meaty hand to his chest, looking behind him for someone else as if the idea that she were referring to him was too great to comprehend "You give me too little credit. You think I won't keep a secret for my favourite little Ravenclaw? You know back in my time I was widely regarded as an honourable man!"

The offended look quickly slipped off his face as he toyed with his moustache, mumbling under his breath "Ah, but there was that incident with the beheading…poor Giralt…and I did…tell that man about th…bah! Never mind that girl" He looked up at her as he bowed his head respectfully "You have my word."

"Thank you Corvo" Olive turned quickly, hoping to make a quick escape to the Ravenclaw tower. She planned to wake up early tomorrow to pick some Monkshood. The other night she'd discovered a patch of the purple flowers out near the forest, if her calculations were correct they'd be at the right stage of their life cycle for picking tomorrow!

Just as she'd been imagining herself running through a never-ending field of Monkshood, basked in a heavenly glow from above, A flash of red caused her heart to beat wildly. Crap. Olive pressed up against the wall, making herself impossibly small. Of course Lily and Remus would happen to be patrolling this particular corridor, rotten luck and Olive seemed to be synonymous these days. She strained her ears listening to Lily's comforting voice.

"…and honestly, who would even believe a word that comes out of that Slytherin bint's mouth? She probably goes home and writes a notebook of all the cruel things she can say to people"

What a way to top off her already stellar day…

"James and Sirius would've hexed her into oblivion if they'd been there." She heard Remus say, unless Lily had taken up smoking and had a surge in testosterone since lunch, in that case the deep baritone could've been Lily …from her position pressed against the cold stone wall of the alcove she couldn't see a thing and her mother told her never to make assumptions…

"Well you're not them, are you? And thank Merlin for that!" A distinctly female voice said – once again, most likely, but not definitively, Lily…

"I just…sometimes I can't help but listen" After a lengthy pause, Olive heard Remus let out a long, exasperated sigh "Even Olive's afraid of me, I accidently touched her in class and she looked at me like I was going to murder her"

Well…she did have a habit of looking like a frightened kitten when she was upset, her already large eyes tended to widen and her lip was known to quiver on occasion, but she hadn't even meant to do it that day!

"Olive? God no! trust me, she's as skittish as a unicorn, she barely even has female friends, a male one would probably give her an anxiety attack." Olive nodded to herself, Lily had always been astute.

"Oh… I thought it was because of…" He cleared his throat gruffly. "You know"

"I doubt she's even noticed yet, that girl can't keep her head out of a book for two seconds, and it certainly doesn't help that you're friends with some of the most intimidating boys in school"

Oh Merlin! He probably thought she was one of those vapid and stupidly vain girls.

"I'll check the class room ahead and you can do the corridor with the grumpy portrait" She heard Lily say. The grumpy portrait? Olive's brows drew together as her eyes finally landed on Corvo. The grumpy portrait…Corvo. Merlin's Balls! Olive's stomach dropped, like the first time she'd ever taken off on a broom – that sinking feeling of utter despair. She raised a desperate finger to her lips, indicating to Corvo to remain silent, with a scathing look he closed his mouth, raising his chin haughtily with a 'hmph!'. Phew.

She pressed herself behind a tall pillar, trying to ignore her sweaty palms and shaking hands.  
Two options swam through her head, the resultant scenarios flittering through her mind like movies.

One: He'd turn the corner, twiddling his thumbs and whistling like a half-wit from one of those muggle books. Like a caped crusader, or a cowboy – she had no real preference – she'd leap out, brandishing her wand menacingly. "Halt intruder, any last wishes?" She'd say effortlessly as she gazed down the 'barrel' of her wand. Remus would be so shocked by her sudden appearance that he'd remain frozen like a fool! And with a final Petrificus Totalus, he'd fall helplessly to the ground. Plan One was admittedly, a tad hyperbolic, but in essence, a carefully aimed Petrificus Totalus would give her ample time to escape the clutches of Remus, and then indirectly, the red-haired, green eyed beast.

Two: She'd admit, even now, that Plan Two was not in fact, a plan at all; but sometimes it was nice to see where her imagination took her. Plan Two's Achilles' heel was that it required her to have a certain reputation (Having a reputation involved people knowing who you were, just yesterday a girl from her dorm had forgotten her name). But that was beside the point, in scenario two the name Olive Oberg would be whispered among children. Old wives' tales would recount all the terrible, but great, things she'd done. A bit like Grindelwald or Dumbledore. The type of reputation that would leave people frozen in a stony terror as they saw her wand pointed at them. They'd know that their demise was imminent, that they should be running for the hills, but they'd be immobilized by fear – which would give her ample time to run off! Once again, escaping a fate worse than death at the hands of Lily. She liked plan two, though every great strategist knew that the plan most likely to succeed should be the one chosen.

Remus' shoes tapped lightly against the floor, each successive step louder than the last. Olive squeezed her eyes shut and gripped her wand tightly as her heart fluttered uncomfortably in her chest.

A couple more steps and he'd see her plain as day. "M-Merlin help me" she whispered as she settled on Plan One…a quick Petrificus Totalus and she'd sprint for her dorm. Narrowing her eyes, in determination, she jumped out from her hiding spot.

"H…Halt…" Her words fizzled into the night as she stood frozen in fear, her neck craned up to Remus who'd already pulled his wand on her. Ah yes…exactly as she'd planned. Remus Lupin. The git had reverse Plan Two-ed her!

"Olive? What are you doing ou-"

Rats. Time for Plan Three (Also known as Plan 'Holy-Shit-What-On-Earth-Are-You-Doing?').  
Olive leapt forward, imagining herself like a grasshopper springing upward to avoid capture from a hungry bird – a comparison she quite liked, she'd always loved grasshoppers.

Her eyebrows drew together as she stretched her arms upwards toward his mouth, their differing height making this quite the task. In panic she looked down, settling on his feet to gain a few extra centimetres – he'd be fine, she probably weighed as much as a house elf. Not her finest plan…

"Mmmphm mmm" His speech came out muffled and his brown eyes widened in surprise, if not for her hand he almost certainly would have released a screech of surprise.

She looked at him imploringly, if Lily caught her she'd be toast! Not in the figurative way either, Lily would probably transfigure into bread and then pop he in one of those muggle toasting devices! She'd cackle evilly as the immense heat burnt Olive to a crisp, only to feed her to one of the more…spherical shaped Slytherins. "S-She'll hear us!"

What Olive should have anticipated, which should have been immediately obvious when she'd needed to stand on his shoes for extra height, was that Remus was by no means her prisoner. He reached up, gently encircling her wrists within his hands and pulled them away from his mouth, the corner of his lip pulling into a smirk as his role switched from prisoner to warden.

Olive looked from her wrists to Corvo, who'd lulled his head to the side as if sleeping, though she could see a sly smile on his lips. Bastard.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Olive heaved a sigh of relief as she noted his soft tone, he'd obviously gotten the memo: 'Lily is a tyrant and won't hesitate to toast you alive'.

She gazed up into his eyes, chewing on her bottom lip as her nerves returned. Ah, Right. Remus was waiting for an answer.

"W-well funny you ask…" Now to think of a good excuse, she chanced a look up again, noting his quirked brow. Now would be an excellent time for her brain to cooperate…"b-but I really must be going…N.E.W.T.s, you'd understand"

If she'd had free reign of her hands she most definitely would've slapped herself in the forehead. Fortunately, he seemed to find it funny, a dazzling smile broke out on his face.

"Tell me, do you find that one in the morning is a productive time to study?" The Marauders never did miss a beat, no doubt she could've used a couple of those right now.

"Incredibly, I…I was studying just now…" Sweet Morgana, why had she allowed herself to get so close to him?

Olive jumped as Lily's voice cut through the air, she would've fallen if not for the hands around her wrists. "I spoke to her the other day you know, she was mortified. She's a good person she just gets so nervous around new people"

"I suppose you heard what we were saying just now?" He said to Olive, the smirk finally slipping off his face.

"I wasn't eavesdropping!" Olive said a bit too quickly, "For all I know you were discussing fine cheeses…m-my favourite is Brie" Again, if her hands were free she'd have made good use of them; she could've slapped her forehead, buried her head in them, transfigured herself into cheese and hoped for a quick, but painless death. Really, the possibilities were endless.

Lily mistook his lack of response for ignorance. Though she couldn't be blamed, when wondering why Remus wasn't replying, the fact that he was conspiring around a corner with Olive would hardly be her first thought.

"You have a habit of doing that you know? When you don't know what to say you just drift back into that head of yours. I can see why the hat almost put you in Ravenclaw. Anything on your end?"

Olive looked up at him pleadingly, would he dob her in? She would hardly call them friends…and he was a prefect, he didn't have any reason to cover for her.

"Not a soul" He called out to her, before lowering his voice and smiling cheekily at Olive "And my favourite is Cheddar, but I'm more of a chocolate man"

Her relief was almost palpable as the tenseness left her shoulders.  
Chocolate man. If Beatrice were here she'd make a witty joke about chocolate men…a witty joke…Olive stared blankly at him as she pleaded with her brain; Chocolate man could be anagrammed to 'Canal Eco Moth', she loved moths, but that wasn't interesting, was it? She must've been thinking for too long because he spoke again.

"Will she really get mad at you? You're a prefect anyway" He muttered under his breath as the back of his ears turned red, not that Olive noticed, she was feeling too flustered herself.

"It's not my round tonight and she's already mad at me! she'll give me detention and take away one thousand points! I don't even like toast!" She said dramatically, without her signature stutter.

"Toast?" He said, regaining his smile.

"Well anyway Remus, She's quite pretty, isn't she? Don't think I forgot what you told me in third year" Lily called out from the adjacent classroom.

H-He thought she was pretty?

Remus winced, releasing her wrists suddenly, she was sent scrambling back, not that she minded. This time when she looked over at Corvo his sleeping act was over, he was grinning at her with a bemused expression, his twinkling eyes peeking over the top of his spectacles.  
Corvo would never let her hear the end of this…the old bat wasn't having any trouble seeing now, was he? Traitor.

"Uh…yes I suppose she is" Remus said, looking down at his scuffed shoes, letting his hair fall into his face once again.

"Hah! Suppose? What were the exact words you used again?" Lily said.

Olive avoided his eyes. She noticed that the ceiling had an odd white splotch on it and she was sure there was a pair of knickers hanging off one of the high wall hangings, they looked an awful lot like the ones Beatrice owned…

"What was that you told me the other day about James, shall I repeat that?" Remus said in an almost confident voice, the wobble in the middle somewhat diminishing his desired tone.

"And here I thought you were the nice one! I knew I should've gone for Peter"

She'd counted seventy-four roof-tiles when she finally heard Remus clear his throat. "…You better be off then" He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Y…you're not going to take away points?" She asked nervously.

"No" He tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace, "Just be quick, before I change my mind"

"Lily's right, you are the nice one. H-Here" Olive pulled a little butterfly from her pocket, placing it on the underside of his hand, she tapped it quickly with her wand before breaking out in a sprint toward her common room.

Remus was left in her wake, smiling at the pretty little butterfly that had come to life on his hand, and partly because of the pretty little witch that had disappeared, not that he'd admit it. It glowed a brilliant shade of blue before flittering off toward the window, illuminating the sky around it as it fluttered off.


End file.
